Apparatus for treating warp sheets and the like to size and dry them



J. R. ANDREWS, JR APPARATUS FOR TREATING WARP SHEETS May 25, 1954 AND THE LIKE TO SIZE-AND DRY THEM Filed NOV. 18, 1949 Patented May 25, 1954 APPARATUS FOR TREATING WARP SHEETS AND THE LIKE T SIZE AND DRY THEM John R. Andrews, Jr., Uxbridge, Mass., assignor to Bachmann Uxbridge Worsted Corporation, Uxbridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 18, 1949, Serial No. 128,134

7 Claims. (Cl. 28--28) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating a warp sheet and the like to successively wet and dry it as for example to size and dry it, or to dye, size and dry it.

In the manufacture of cloth successive wetting and drying, and rewetting and redrying of a warp sheet is often necessary or desirable. For example fibers, especially wool, may be oily and only imperfectly sized with a single wetting, and often a warp sheet requires a first wetting with dye and a second wetting with size, and many warp sheets, such for example as cotton warp sheets, are now dyed in one operation, and sized and dryed in a separate operation.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a simple, practical and eicient method and apparatus for overcoming these deficiencies in the prior art by providing for wetting and drying and rewetting and redrying in a continuous operation and Without duplication of equipment and attendant loss of mill space.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and eiiicient method and apparatus whereby warp may be repeatedly wetted with dye or size or both and dried utilizing only a single drying chamber.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for handling and guiding a warp sheet to dry it eifectively and prevent individual threads from sticking together.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious or in partpointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts, and in the several steps and relation and order of each of said steps to one or more of the others thereof, all as will be pointed out in the following description, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

The invention will best be understood if the following description is read in connection with the drawing, in which the single iigure is a side elevation partly in cross section illustrating the method, and preferred apparatus for carrying out the method disclosed herein.

While the method disclosed herein can be practised using a variety of types of apparatus I prefer vto employ lthe type of drier disclosed in pending applications Serial No. 25,565, and Serial No. 122,482, the latter of which matured into Patent No.=2,6G1,080, and the header and air circulating means which are indicated herein are shown and described in detail in said ap- I .plications and form no partof the present ap- 2 plication. They will be referred to herein only in a general way and as is required to explain the method and apparatus which is the subject of this invention.

In the figure a plurality of size baths, indicated generally by the numerals i0 and i2, are shown located adjacent to a drying closure indicated generally by the numeral lli. Instead ofk two separate sizing baths a single bath suiiiciently long to accommodate a double set of guide rollers may of course be used.

Within drying closure le headers i6 and I8 are provided and disposed with their heater, fan, and duct means in such a Way as to promote an efficient circulation of air within closure I4. As shown herein header I6 is provided with air slots along its surface les and header i8 is provided with air slots along its surfaces I8EL and ith. The air slots may be equipped with baille means 22) such as are shown by way of example along a portion of surface Ita, the said baiiles serving to cause the air to be ejected from the header surface with a gentle non-turbulent ow. Other baffle means may be employed if desired within the headers to promote even distribution of the air along the length and width of the header discharge surfaces.

In the embodiment of the invention shown herein air enters closure I4 through the port 22 and after passing through a preheater 24 flows under and around the sides of header i8 to fan 25 by which it is impelled into header i@ and discharged through air ports or slots along the header surface Iiia in a direction substantially perpendicular to the paths of a plurality of warp sheet portions extending through substantially parallel reaches in superimposed relation, as will be described. After passing through the said Warp sheet portions an increment of the air is drawn into fan 28 and is recirculated through duct means, indicated generally by the numeral 3Q, to the header i8 from which it is discharged through the air ports or slots in the surfaces '48a and E81 in directions substantially perpendicular to reaches of the warp sheet. After leaving the surfaces' 53a and isb of header i8 and passing through the warp sheet the air is again drawn into fan 26 and is recirculated together with incoming. air entering through said port 22. Preferably an increment of the air passes through the incoming reaches of the warp sheet adjacent their entry 'into closure ill and is exhausted through a discharge port indicated generally by the numeral 32.

In front of fan 26 there are desirably provided the air heaters li control means 34 for regulating the volume of air admitted to fan 25. Similarly heating means H is desirably provided within. the duct i for ren-eating the air after it is discharged fi header l5 and its entrance into fan 2S. "onore it reaches header lll.

The wall of closure iii is provided with openings 36 and 38 for the passage of three reaches' of a warp sheet W, and within the closure a pair of guide rollers it and :l2 are provided adjacent and above the narrow end of header l, roller l being of smaller diameter than roller all and positioned in front of roller {il} and substantially in alignn ment between roller "lo and sizing bath it. Beyond the narrow end of header it another guide roller dll is provided beyond the narrow end of header i8 guide roller means is shown comprising the roller lid and rollers i8 and 5G of smaller diameter than roller le and positioned between roller it and the narow end of header i3. I

A. single roller of less diameter than roller i5 may be used in place of the pair of rollers le and 59, the latter being employed simply as a matter of convenience and to conserve space. Adjacent and below the wider end of header it another guide roller 52 is provided and an additional guide roller 5t is shown positioned adjacent the bottoni of closure lil and between air inlet port 22 and fan 2t.

A warp sheet W is first wetted, by passing it into a sizing bath it. Within sizing bath it it passes under guide roller 5e and between pair of rollers 53, and then is led through a long reach to and around the rollers de and B2 respectively, half of the warp sheet being led around each oi these rollers with the result that the warp is divided into a plurality of sheets lie and Eb while passing through the reach between rollers d8 and rollers and 42.

After passing around rollers fill and l2 the warp passes back through another long reach to port 36 to guide roller t2, shown herein as being located above a second size bath i2. The warp while passing through the reach between the rollers 1w and T2 and roller e2 remains divided into two halves identified by the numerals tde and 5d.

After passing around guide roller 62 the warp again is in a single sheet and is rewetted size bath l2 and after passing through the pair of rollers is passed through a third reach above header surface ita from rollers E56 to guide roller All. During this reach the warp sheet may be split into a number of sheets and splitter rod ed is shown by which the warp is divided into two sheets, in combination with splitter rods it and 12 by which the divided warp is redivided forining four warp sheets lila, leb, MG, and laid.

After passing around guide roller is the warp passes through a shorter reach, entirely within closure ifi, to and around the rollers @t and i8 and 50, half of the warp passing around roller 46 and half around rollers lil and si), thus dividing the warp during this reach into the sheets 'les and 161.

After passing around rollers A@ and 4B and 5S] the warp remains divided, during a reach to guide roller 52, into sheets indicated as ita and lsb. After passing around guide roller 52 the warp is led around roller 5s and out of closure le' through port 22 against the flow of incoming air.

Thus it will be seen that above header surface 13a three reaches of the warp are disposed in substantially parallel planes one above the other, and air discharged from said header surface it will pass successively through the reach extending between rollers 66 and roller 44; the reach between rollers 40 and 42 and rollers t2; and the reach between rollers 58 and rollers it and 132. And it will be seen that the first reach, from rollers 5S to rollers ed and e?. is the nrst reach of the warp entering closure ill; the third reach, from rollers Se to roller d4, is the second reach of the warp entering the closure I4; and the second reach of the warp, between rollers le and liz and guide roller e2,v is an intermediate reach shown herein as passing out of the closure to return the warp to be resized.

It will be understood that the warp in passing through the rst of the three reaches superim posed over header surface its will be substantially dried before Contact with rollers s@ and e2 and thus prepared for being resized upon conclusion of its travel through its second reach from rollers 4e and l2 to rollers 62; and will be again substantially dried by the time it reaches roller its after passing through its third reach, from rollers e6 to roller Mi, this third reach being through a path closer to the header surface [te than said first or second reaches and therefore exposed to the drying air from the air ports or slots of header surface 56a before the said air has contacted the portions of the warp passing through the first and second oi its said reaches.

The repeated sizing of the warp as shown herein has been found to be of substantial practical value in the treatment not only of warp threads comprising oily fibers from the Bradford spinning system but also on dry fibers from the French system and the Pin Drafter system. The disposition of a plurality of vreaches of the warp in superimposed relation above the single header surface has been found to give practical and eilioient results while conserving space, and the dividing of the warp into a plurality of sheets While travelling through one or more of its reaches has been found helpful in promoting complete and even drying of the warp, the utilization of a pair of rollers of different diameters, such as rollers 40 Lili, for this purpose having been shown to be a simple and eiective means for accomplishing splitting of the warp during its travel through two consecutive reaches, this means effecting desired splitting without the warp being contacted in any way between leaving rollers 5d of size bath ill and reaching guide rollers d and s2. This is oi substantial practical value because where splitter rollers are employed such for example as those indicated by the numerals B, "le and l2, some of the sizing is likely to be transierred from the warp threads to the splitter rollers at their points of Contact thus building up into accumulations on the splitter rollers which from time to time is discharged onto the warp sheet thus bridging over the space between the individual threads forming the warp sheet and causing them to be stuck together.

In the treatment of oily nbers the double dipping disclosed herein accomplishes an important result since `after the first sizing and drying step the individual threads become uniformly and evenly sized in the second. step.

The method and apparatus disclosed herein has the advantage that the method can be practised while continuously advancing the warp without duplication or substantial increase in the size of the apparatus required.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided .by this invention a method and apparatus in which the various objects hereinabove set forth together with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. As various possible embodiments might be made of the mechanical features of the above invention and as the art herein described might be varied in various parts, all without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a Iliiniting sense.

WhatIclairn is:

1. Apparatus for treating warp and the like which comprises, a drying chamber, =a header having air ports along one surface positioned Within said chamber, a pair of rollers positioned Within the chamber and extending in parallel relation to the air ports of said header, one Wall of said chamber having a Iplurality of openings therein, one of said rollers being larger than the other and being positioned on the far side of the other from said -wall openings, means for .passing a warp sheet into said chamber and around said rollers respectively and out of said chamber, through first and second reaches the second of which is disposed beneath said first reach, the part of said warp sheet passing around the smaller of said two rollers remaining separated from, and -disposed between, the reaches yof the partof the warp sheet passing around the larger vof said two rollers, and for 'passing the warp sheet again into said chamber and through a third reach between said header and said first and second reaches, in a continuous operation, each of said reaches extending substantially at right angles to the air streams issuing yfrom the air ports of said header.

2. The sti'ucture claimed in claim 1 in which means are also provided for wetting the warp sheet in advance of its first entry int-o said chamber and in ladvance of its second entry into said chamber.

3. Apparatus for treating warp and the like which comprises a closed chamber, a header.

therein having air ports along one surface, and means for passing a warp sheet continuously into, and out of, and again into said closed chamber, through three reaches positioned one above another and with each extending substantially at right angles to the air streams issuing from said ports of said header -Whereby air issuing from said air ports passes through said reaches successively in a direction substantially at right angles to said reaches, a pair of rollers for splitting the Warp during its passage through said first and second reaches, one of said rollers being larger than the other and `positioned on the far side of l the other from the entrance and exit points of the warp into and from said chamber. Y

4. A dryer comprising a housing, a header therein having a number of ports for distributing air introduced into said header, said housing having a Iplurality of wall openings for passage of a plurality of reaches of a warp sheet, first roller means positioned outside said housing and dening the beginning of a first reach of said Warp sheet, second roller means positioned within said housing adjacent the .far end of the header from said yopenings to receive the warp sheet at the end of its first flight, third roller means positioned outside the housing adjacent and defining the end of the second and the beginning of a third reach, fourth roller means positioned Within the housing adjacent the far end of said header from said Wall openings and defining the end of the third High-t of said warp sheet, said third fiight of the Warp sheet passing nearer to the ported surface of said header than said second flight, and the said second flight of the warp sheet passing closer to the ported surface of the header than said first flight.

5. The device claimed in claim 4 including means for wetting the warp sheet prior to its .passage through said first fiight, and again intermediate its passage through said second and third iiights.

6. A dryer comprising a housing, a header therein having a number of ports for distributing air introduced into said header, means for leading a warp through three flights above the ported surface of said header with each iiight passing successively closer to said ported surface than the preceding flight, said means including port means in one housing IWall for introducing a warp sheet, roller means positioned adjacent the far end of said header from said port means defining the end of said first flight and the beginning of the second night, other roller means .positioned in a plane intermediate the plane of said first flight and the plane of the ported surface of said header and defining the end of the second `fiight and the beginning of the third flight.

7. A dryer comprising a housing dening a first drying chamber and a second drying chamber, a passage intercommunicating between said first and second drying chambers, an air chamber intermediate said drying chambers and communieating with said first drying chamber, an air inlet port in the housing vWall for admitting air into said second drying chamber, an air passageway in said seco-nd drying chamber having an intake side Ipositioned to receive air entering said second chamber through said air inlet port and an eX- haust side communicating With said air chamber, an air exhaust port in the wall of the housing for exhausting air from said first drying chamber, and means for passing a length of material through the housing wall into said first chamber and for guiding it through two reaches within said iirst chamber and out of the housing, and then again into said housing and through a third rea-ch within said first drying chamber.

References Cited in the file 0f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 890,782 Masurel June 16', 1908 1,799,300 Kenyon Apr. 7, 1931 1,837,682 Searight Dec. 22, 1931 1,886,030 Lane Nov. 1, 1932 2,108,188 Batchelder IFeb. 15, 1938 2,185,747 Grilin Jan. 2, 1940 2,402,653v Clark June 25, 1946 2,426,415 Rose Aug. 26, 1947 2,445,443 Long July 20, 1948 2,541,383 -Rose Feb. 13, 1951 2,565,407 Still Aug. 21, 1951 2,583,427 Holt Jan. 22, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,570 Great Britain of 1868 23,721 Great Britain of 1908 

